Cowardice Was Useless (Please Bookmark and Keep Reading)

At the critical moment, the system was still reliable.

Steadying his slightly trembling body, Xu Yang tilted his head just a little and used the wolves' unique 290-degree field of vision to observe behind him.

Lush and dense, it looked no different from before...

Just as Xu Yang thought nothing had changed since his arrival, a bolt of lightning flashed through his mind!

Something was wrong. The position of the vines on that tree behind and to his right was off!

Xu Yang's eyes narrowed slightly. He activated a great number of photoreceptor cells and saw more clearly.

Sure enough, Xu Yang spotted the anomaly. Earlier, that vine had coiled around the tree branches in a ring, more than five meters above the ground. Now, most of it had drooped down, forming a dense vine curtain. Even more horrifyingly, it was now less than two meters above the ground!

Xu Yang was certain that no other Living Thing had passed through before. So... the vine was alive? A man-eating plant?

Even as the alertness In His heart rose, Xu Yang let out a breath. As long as it was Not not a ghost. He feared that sort of mystical nonsense the most. Just hearing about it made his legs go weak and his heart tremble. If a ghost really appeared before him, it would not even need to scare him—he would faint on the spot...

So the reason there aren't any beasts in these hills is because of these man-eating vines?

Xu Yang did not dare turn around. Instead, he kept walking forward while watching in every direction.

The farther he went, the more alarmed he became. It seemed that there were more and more vines behind him. Not just the one from before—the vines wrapped around the nearby trees had also joined the "hunt."

The vines moved stealthily and gently, without making the Slightest sound. If Xu Yang had truly been nothing more than a wild wolf, he might have fallen victim to them. But inside this seemingly ordinary wolf lived a meticulous small-town test-taker from another world, tempered by three years of college entrance exams and five years of mock tests!

Watching in all directions and listening on all sides, Xu Yang was secretly anxious, but he had not lost the intelligence of a "terrifying upright ape." His wolf paws stepped on dead branches and fallen leaves in the forest, producing crisp crunch, crunch sounds.

Another five minutes passed.

Rustle~~~ Rustle~~~

The terrifying sound of pythons slithering came from behind him. Xu Yang looked back and was instantly scared out of his wits!

Fuck, are they done pretending and finally showing their hand?

More than ten meters behind the gray-furred wolf, five or six dark-green vines as thick as the mouths of bowls squeezed through the dead branches and rotting leaves like real pythons.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

The vines slithered swiftly, nearly reaching three meters per second. Though they were far slower than a wild wolf, there were simply too many of them. Vast swaths of vines surged toward him, seeming able to reach Xu Yang in an instant. Their tips were sharp as spears, while the previously limp branches suddenly stiffened into finger-length barbs. The barbs gleamed with Cold Light, clearly carrying poison.

Xu Yang had no idea why the vines that had been behaving themselves earlier had stopped pretending, but he had no energy to investigate. His top priority was escaping this death zone shrouded in vines.

Xu Yang's heart tightened. He did not dare hesitate in the Slightest and immediately broke into a full sprint. He knew that if those vines wrapped around him, their sharp barbs and deadly poison would condemn him beyond all redemption.

Yet although the vines were slower than him, they were numerous, and they seemed to possess Some kind of intelligence, able to predict Xu Yang's path of movement. No matter how he changed direction, the vines swiftly adjusted and stayed close behind him.

Damn it!

Xu Yang cursed inwardly. Running like this was not a solution. He had to find a way to deal with these vines.

They say that within seven steps, there must be an antidote. I've already run seventy steps—why haven't I seen one yet...

The short burst of intense exertion made his cellular mitochondria produce energy frantically, while the heat accumulating in his body had nowhere to dissipate. Instinctively, Xu Yang stuck out his tongue. Saliva dripped from its smooth surface as great amounts of heat evaporated through his mouth.

Whew~~ That felt good~~~~

Xu Yang could not care less about looking undignified. No one could see him anyway.

One chased while the other fled. Another great pursuit unfolded in the dim forest, only this time it was Not not Xu Yang chasing a Wild Deer—it was man-eating vines chasing Xu Yang.

Half a minute later, Xu Yang felt that the area ahead seemed brighter.

It was an open clearing, bathed in sunlight and blooming with flowers.

For some reason, Xu Yang felt that his path to survival lay ahead. At once, his exhausted body squeezed out fresh strength. How many chances did a wolf get to fight with everything it had? If he did not fight now, he would never get another chance!

Sensing the intense aura of sunlight, the vines grew Even More restless and completely went mad. They lashed about like a cowboy's whip, cracking the air with snap, snap sounds.

His nose could already smell the clean freshness of sunlight. At the same time, the rotten stench unique to humus emitted by the man-eating vines as they went berserk grew stronger and stronger.

Accelerating, the muscles in Xu Yang's legs bulged as they Burst forth with terrifying force!

He accelerated into a sprint, and the ground beneath his frantic run seemed to tremble. The vines behind him drew ever closer, as though they could drag him back into the darkness at any moment.

Whoosh!

A vine whip as thick as an adult's wrist lashed at him from the side. The pupils of Xu Yang's wolf eyes instantly shrank to needlepoints. His beastly instincts saved his life once more. Like a parkour athlete, he pushed off with his hind legs and sprang straight up, narrowly avoiding the vine whip.

Shit, I'm going to hit a tree!

Xu Yang felt helpless and could only use his forelegs to brace himself before hitting the tree, cushioning the impact and reducing the damage.

Thud.

With a dull sound, Xu Yang rolled away miserably. Ignoring the pain, he scrambled back up and fled for his life.

The final hundred meters felt Even More drawn out to Xu Yang than the kilometer he had spent hunting a Wild Deer last night. Using the springiness of the branches at the edge of the dense forest, he leaped up once more and finally escaped the vines' encirclement.

Sunlight shone over the gray-furred wolf who had survived the disaster. The wolf panted heavily and, still shaken, looked back at the dense forest behind him. Within it, man-eating vines brandished their claws and fangs, yet did not dare emerge for fear of the sunlight's power.

That was fucking dangerous. How am I supposed to get out? Don't tell me I'll have to go through that again...

Once the fright in his heart had eased a little, Xu Yang fell into distress. If he were given another chance to choose, he definitely would not choose these damned hills. Even facing a Leopard would be better than dealing with vines that were everywhere!

Irritation rose In His heart. Xu Yang himself did not notice that his temper was getting worse and worse.

A bolt of lightning flashed through his mind!

Right—the system!

Xu Yang walked away from the dense forest while checking the system.

He had thought there would be a pleasant surprise, but the earlier cool sensation had been fleeting. The system was still the same unbearably crude interface, completely unchanged.

His Moods were like a roller coaster, plunging from its peak to the bottom. Then his stomach began to growl again.

After that intense exercise, the hunger came with exceptional ferocity, leaving Xu Yang so hungry that acid rose in his stomach.

Swallowing down the sourness in his throat, Xu Yang could only find a way to solve his food and warmth problem first.